Clifford Chance

DIFC Courts refuse to stay proceedings based on pending Dubai Court Claim

14 August 2016

In a judgment of Deputy Chief Justice Sir David Steel issued by the DIFC Courts on 1 August 2016 in Standard Chartered Bank v Investment Group Private Limited (CFI 026/2014), the DIFC Courts confirmed that they will not stay legitimate DIFC Court proceedings based merely on parallel claims filed in the Dubai Courts.

In particular, the DIFC Courts held that it is not enough for there to be a pending claim in the Dubai Courts to give rise to a "conflict of jurisdiction" that could result in the stay of DIFC proceedings – rather, both courts must issue conflicting judgments for this to occur. The judgment also deals briefly with Decree No. 19 of 2016 which was issued by the Ruler of Dubai on 9 June 2016 to regulate conflicts of jurisdiction between the DIFC Courts and the Dubai Courts.

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